One of the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) most wanted fugitives has been arrested in Spain.
Sarah Panitzke, 47, was accused of being involved in a £1 billion mobile phone tax scam and disappeared after standing trial for money laundering offences in May 2013, The NCA said.
She was detained while walking her dogs in Santa Barbara, Tarragona, on Sunday morning (27 February) by the Spanish Guardia Civil as part of an operation supported by HM Revenue & Customs.
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Panitzke, from Fulford near York, had been the subject of a number of NCA 'most wanted' appeals to find fugitives since she vanished.
She has now appeared in court and has been remanded in custody as extradition proceedings begin.
In 2013, she was convicted and sentenced in her absence to eight years following an investigation by HMRC.
Panitzke and her co-conspirators were given jail terms totalling 135 years.
NCA International Deputy Director Tom Dowdall said: “Sarah Panitzke has been on the run for almost nine years. Given the length of time she might have thought we had stopped searching, but she remained on our radar.
“Joint working between UK law enforcement and our partners in Spain led to her being apprehended, and we will now seek her extradition back to the UK to serve her prison sentence.
“This should serve as a warning to others on our most wanted list – we will not rest until you are captured, no matter how long it takes.”
Simon York, Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: “Sarah Panitzke was one of Britain’s most wanted tax fugitives.
“She played a pivotal role in a multi-million pound VAT fraud and moved millions through offshore bank accounts.
“Panitzke thought she had put herself outside of the reach of HMRC, but through our work with UK law enforcement and international partners we have tracked down another tax fugitive. No tax criminal is beyond our reach.
“We have helped secure the return more than 60 fugitives since 2016, including some of the UK’s most harmful tax cheats."
